Division 1
SAN CLEMENTE (9-1) at RANCHO CUCAMONGA (9-1)
Game info: Rancho Cucamonga coach Nick Baiz says his team will benefit from the experience it gained in last year’s playoff run and that helps because this is not an easy first-round game. San Clemente was the CIF-Southern Section D2 champion and went on to win state in that division before moving up this year. The lone loss for the Tritons came in league play to Mission Viejo. They are led by junior QB Brendan Costello, who has thrown for 1,971 yards and 22 TDs with just two interceptions. RB Austin Whitsett has rushed for 1,120 yards to complement the offense. The Cougars have a veteran at QB in senior Nick Acosta while junior RB Sean Dollars has been playing well with 285 yards on 18 carries during the last two games. Jeremiah Criddell had 106 yards on just four catches in last week’s win over Chino Hills. LB Roy Wiley and DL Lavaka Latu head the defensive effort.

Division 4
MURRIETA MESA (7-3) at COLONY (9-1)
Game info: Mesa tied for fourth in a strong Southwestern League. All three of its losses this season came in league play to Chaparral, Vista Murrieta and Murrieta Valley. Senior QB Jeff Miller has thrown for 2,667 yards and 29 TDs wile senior RB Kai Thompson has rushed for 1,460 and 14 TDs. Senior MLB Jordan Atkinson heads the defense. Colony’s loss was in nonleague play to Charter Oak. The Titans are the Mt. Baldy League champions for the sixth time in eight years and have done so this year despite some key injuries, most notably at QB, where Joseph Tesimale (knee) has been replaced by Marco Gonzalez. Colony went to the Wildcat offense some last week with sophomore Elijah Monroe taking the snap and Randall said he will run that again this week, though Monroe twisted an ankle early this week in practice. WR Michael Ezeike is an imposing target for Gonzalez and tough for opponents to defend.

PALM SPRINGS (4-6) at CAJON (9-1) Game info: Citrus Belt League champion Cajon is the No. 2 seed and looms as the heavy favorite over a Palm Springs team that was just fourth in the Desert Valley League. The Indians average 134 yards through the air and 100 on the ground while the Cowboys are averaging a robust 510 yards, 355 though the air. Cajon’s loss came to a quality team in Murrieta Valley (49-46). Cajon is led by junior QB Jayden Daniels, the Southern Section’s leading passer with 3,507 yards and 42 TDs to just two interceptions. He has a huge target in 6-8 Darren Jones, who led the section in receiving yards. DE Jeremiah Martin has 36 tackles for losses, including 23 sacks.

Division 5 LA QUINTA (6-4) at YUCAIPA (9-1) Game info: La Quinta is the third-place team from the Desert Valley League and enters with the momentum of back-to-back wins to end the regular season. It prefers to keep the ball on the ground and averages 201 yards rushing and 104 passing. Junior RB Derrick Kennedy has run for 1,583 yards with eight games of 100 or more yards. Junior LB Fred Massie leads the La Quinta defense. Yucaipa’s lone loss came to Cajon in a game that determined the Citrus Belt League title. Junior QB Keo McChesney was injured (shoulder) in that game but has shown no effects of that. He has thrown for 410 yards and five TDs in the two games since then. The Yucaipa secondary has an impressive 21 interceptions, seven by Matthew Best.

Division 6CANYON COUNTRY CANYON (5-5) at SAN GORGONIO (6-4) Game info: The Spartans are the reigning Division 7 champions but it has been a year of transition with a new coach and several newcomers at the skill positions. San Gorgonio went 1-4 in nonleague play but benefited from having a league in the San Andreas that isn’t particularly strong and repeated as champion there. Junior Elijah Hall (900 yards) is the team’s leading rusher. Canyon was the last-place finisher out of the Foothill League. It is back in the playoffs after a two-year absence. The Cowboys have lost four of five games.

Division 7 DON LUGO (8-2) at POMONA (6-4) Game info: The Conquistadores settled for second in the Mt. Baldy League behind Colony but have a lot of the same weapons they did last year when they got to the Division 8 semifinal. One of those is senior RB-S Khoury Bethley, who has been banged up but persevered. Among the other weapons is senior WR Daniel Munguia. Junior DE Alex Navarro and junior LB Norman Morales have played well on defense. Pomona repeated as champion of the Miramonte League. The Red Devils take a five-game win streak into the postseason. Junior Billiante Godfrey is he leading rusher but Pomona relies more on balance than individual star power.

Division 8 KAISER (7-3) at SAN DIMAS (7-3) Game info: Kaiser is the second-place team out of the Sunkist League while San Dimas was part of a three-way tie for first in the Valle Vista. Cats coach Billy Cardosi says his team will have its work cut out for it in trying to stop what he calls an “efficient” offense in the Saints Wing-T which features Noah Maldanado (1,006 yards) and Dylan Ware (1,231 yards). Cardosi is hoping his top defenders in CB Riley Richard and DL Justin Alcantar continue their strong play. On offense the Cats boast one of the area’s top backs in Tyler Allgeier (1,845 yards) who has rushed for more than 100 yards in eight of 10 games.

CITRUS VALLEY (5-5) at SILVERADO (9-1) Game info: The Hawks are the No. 2 seed, with their lone loss coming in the season opener by one point to still-unbeaten Apple Valley. Citrus Valley will have its hands full trying to do something no one has and that’s hold down Silverado’s potent passing attack which features QB Levi Taylor and WRs Latavion Staples and Dionzae Nolan. Citrus Valley only placed sixth in the eight team Citrus Belt League and has lost five straight games with the only one remotely close was a 20-7 loss to Redlands last week.

Division 9 MARANATHA (6-4) at AQUINAS (10-0) Game info: The Falcons are the top seed in the division and have pretty much cruised all season. They shouldn’t be challenged here, either, as Maranatha was the third-place finisher in the four-team Olympic League. Aquinas has the county’s all-time leading rusher in Branden Rankins (1,834 yards, 29 TDs) and a senior QB in Salieu Ceesay, who is efficient in running the offense. Senior QB Kwon Peterson leads the Minutemen offense, throwing for 1,856 yards and 21 TDs with just 6 interceptions. Junior DE Luis Saenz is the team’s top defensive player.

Division 10 ALTA LOMA (6-4) at GRAND TERRACE (9-1) Game info: The Braves were the third-place finisher in the Mt. Baldy League and are making their first postseason appearance since 2006. Alta Loma struggled last week against Colony and got behind 25 before it had a first down. Undisciplined play was one problem and coach Mark Pasquarella said that has been a problem throughout the season. Alta Loma is strong in the trenches and has one of the area’s top defenders in Kingston Toki. Grand Terrace is Sunkist League champion for the first time and having the best season in the six-year school history.The Titans have an outstanding RB in Jonta McMullen who is the catalyst on offense.

Division 11 COLTON (6-4) at PATRIOT (7-3) Game info: The game features two of the more improved teams in the Inland Empire. Patriot went 4-6 a year ago and has improved by three games while Colton makes the playoffs after going 4-6 last season and 2-8 in 2015. Spectators won’t want to be late to this one because with the way both run the ball it could be over quickly. For Patriot is QB John Ober who is the focal point of the offense. He has run for 1,185 yards and only thrown for 500. The teams also has a 1,000 yard rusher in Erik Garcia. The Yellowjackets also have two players who have combined for 2,000 yards in Brennan Ramos and Lawrence Campbell.

Michelle Gardner has covered high school sports and local colleges for the Daily Bulletin and Sun since 2002. She previously covered a wide variety of sports from the high school level to the professional ranks in Florida with tenures at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Naples Daily News and the Fort Myers News-Press and is graduate of the University of Florida.